Grant Mitchell (EastEnders)
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| EastEnders character | |
|---|---|
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| Grant Mitchell | |
| Portrayed by | Ross Kemp |
| Duration | 1990–1999, 2005, 2006 |
| Date of birth | 8 July 1962 |
| Marital status | Separated |
| Home | Portugal |
| Occupation | Landlord |
| Family | Courtney, Mark Jr., Sam, Phil, Peggy |
Grant Anthony Mitchell was a fictional character in the British soap opera EastEnders. He was played by Ross Kemp, and has appeared in show on and off since 1990.
Grant is known for his fiery temper and his tendency to resort to violence when things don't go his way. Family is important to him, particularly his relationship with his brother, Phil, although they've had their differences over the years. He's had an array of women and married three times, all ending in disaster. He has calmed down in recent years, although he is still feared by many people in and around Walford.
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[edit] History
Grant arrived in Albert Square with his brother Phil in February 1990, as the owners of the local garage, the Arches.
Before his arrival Grant had been a paratrooper in the army, but being involved in the Falklands war had deeply scarred him, so he dropped out and began to adapt to life as a civilian. The memories of war troubled him greatly. He was plagued with nightmares, and was prone to terrible rages as a result. Still, he did a mechanic's course in the army, which came in useful for the car repairing trade in Walford.
Not long after his arrival, Grant set his sights on the local barmaid, Sharon Watts. Sharon was attracted to his machismo attitude, and it wasn't long before their flirting had progressed into a relationship. Fiercely protectove of his girlfriend, most of Grant's initial problems in the Square revolved around his over-possessive nature and jealousy. He even managed to put the landlord of The Queen Victoria, Eddie Royle, in hospital after he came on to Sharon one evening and he later became prime suspect for his murder in 1991, although Nick Cotton eventually owned up to the crime (and got away with it). In the wake of this, Grant decided to re-enlist in the army, but was rejected when he failed their psychiatric tests.
Despite his hot-headed tendencies, Sharon saw a different side to Grant, and when he proposed marriage to her, she accepted on the condition that he bought her her childhood home, The Queen Vic pub, which he did.
[edit] Marriage to Sharon
Grant married Sharon Watts in December 1991 and together they ran The Queen Victoria. Their marriage was stormy and punctuated with violent rows and fights. While Grant was in prison for armed robbery, Sharon began an affair with Phil (see Sharongate), although this came to an abrupt end when Grant was released, promising to change.
On Sharon's birthday in 1992, Grant torched the vic for the insurance money after he got into debt with some heavies. The only thing was, Grant didn't check to see if Sharon was out of the way and she and her dog Roly nearly died. The insurance money wasn't enough and, Sharon was very angry with Grant for burning her beloved pub which she had grown up in.
Two years later, Grant discovered a tape on which Sharon talked about her fling with Phil, and played it to a packed pub at Phil and Kathy Beale's engagement party. Grant began regularly beating his wife and Sharon fled to the United States to live with her mother Angie. He also battered Phil in revenge, leaving him with a ruptured spleen.
Sharon's best friend Michelle Fowler took an understandable dislike to Grant but following Sharon's exit, she fell pregnant following a one night stand with him and fled to the States without telling Grant that he was to be a father. Michelle's brother Mark subsequently let slip that she had been pregnant and it was implied that Grant may have guessed the baby's paternity.
[edit] Marriage to Tiffany
He then went on to wed a pregnant Tiffany Raymond in 1997, although it wasn't clear if he or her ex Tony was the father. A paternity test revealed baby Courtney to be Grant's, but by this time his marriage was deteriorating, and Grant spent a month in Cyprus with his army friends. Grant also had an affair with Lorraine Wicks.
When Tiffany discovered that Grant had had an affair with her mother Louise Raymond, she planned to flee to Spain with Courtney on New Year's Eve 1998, but Grant traced her and retrieved Courtney. Tiffany attempted to snatch Courtney but was hit by a car driven by Frank Butcher, Grant's stepfather, and died as the clock struck 12. Grant went round to Frank's house with a sawn off shotgun but Phil was already in there beating up Frank. Things went too far and Phil shot Frank, so the brothers rolled Frank's body up in a carpet and put him in Phil's car. They drove out to some woodlands and burried Frank, they later sweared to each other they would never speak of the incident again.
Grant dated barmaid Nina Harris for a while but ditched her after her past as a prostitute was uncovered. Then he couldn't stop thinking about her so he started dating her again. He proposed to her in the Square while he was being arrested in connection with Frank's dissapearance and she said yes. They got married in the middle of the Square that summer only to get divorced a week later.
[edit] Departure to Brazil
Grant and brother Phil planned to cheat some gangsters to pay off a debt in October 1999 by intercepting a drug deal and stealing a large amount of cash from the gangsters. But the job went wrong when Phil found out Grant slept with his ex-wife wife Kathy Hills before doing the job. He confronted Grant after they did the job and Grant admitted he only slept with Kathy in revenge for Phil sleeping with Sharon. Phil was shocked by Grant's revelation and pulled out a gun, threatening to shoot him. But Grant was saved when he heard police sirens and he and Phil stole a car to escape the police and drove off. Phil was still upset over Grant's revelation and wanted Grant to stop the car. After Grant refused Phil ended up shooting the steering wheel causing Grant to plunge the getaway car into the River Thames. Phil was rescued but Grant wasn't found and was presumed dead. A week later it was revealed Grant was still alive and had the stolen money intact. He then left the square with Courtney getting onto a plane to Rio de Janeiro and was not seen again for another six years.
[edit] Return
Grant returned to Walford in late October 2005. He had just helped his brother Phil out of prison by bribing a security guard who had witnessed the armed robbery for which Phil had been set up by Den Watts. His first line was "Hello mum" as one of Johnny Allen's henchmen menaced Peggy.
He and Phil put their past differences behind them to get their sister Sam, who had been accused of murdering Den Watts, out of prison. Grant tried to get Sharon to believe that Den's wife Chrissie Watts really did kill Den by hearing Sam's side of the story. After much persuasion Sharon eventually did realise that Chrissie was the true culprit but didn't let Chrissie know that she knew. Grant and Sharon also had a moment of nostalgia when they talked about their past. This led Sharon to reveal that she was pregnant with Grant's baby shortly after leaving him and had it aborted. Grant then admitted he wasn't ready to be a father all those years ago so it was best that Sharon had it aborted. He then shared a brief kiss with her which was seen by Sharon's husband Dennis Rickman but Grant soon put Dennis straight that that kiss was just a friendly one. He then set about finding a way to put Chrissie behind bars by finding evidence. Grant and Phil eventually discovered Chrissie confessing that she killed Den caught on a CCTV video tape at gangster Johnny Allen's nightclub. But Johnny had a grudge against the Mitchell brothers because of their mother Peggy exposing his dubious past to his daughter Ruby and used the tape as bait to try and kill them. When they arrived at his club office, in true Mitchell style, they beat him up to get the tape when he refused. As they were leaving with a tape Johnny pointed a gun on them and prepared to shoot them. But Ruby came in and told Johnny not to kill them and for her sake he let them go.
Grant mentioned that he has a bar with his new wife, Carla in Brazil. After getting Sam out of prison and trapping the real culprit, Grant flew back to Rio to return to his family.
He returned again in late March 2006, the night after his brother Phil returned from America, with his daughter Courtney in tow, seemingly for a nostalgic holiday to the East End, although family and financial problems back in Brazil had been hinted at.
Grant, concerned about his brother's state of mind, lured him out of Walford on the false grounds of having some business in Essex, where backup would be needed. His real objective was to get to the root of Phil's problems after seeing him nearly having a drink despite his alcoholism. In an effort to get the truth out of Phil, Grant opened up, revealing he had been seen a psychologist for psychotherapy during his years away and specifically talked about his problems with his brother. Although Grant expected the weekend to be a golfing and bonding experience, things soon turned heavy as Phil led them to Johnny Allen's country estate looking for revenge for his orchestration of Dennis Rickman's death. Grant initially wanted nothing to do with Phil's bid for revenge and left his brother. Guilt overcoming him, he returned just in time to save Phil from Johnny and Danny Moon, showing that despite fatherhood, he still was as hard as ever. While Phil and Johnny had it out in the office, Grant bonded with Johnny's daughter Ruby and was disgusted to learn that Phil had paid Juley Smith to sleep with her to hurt Johnny. Breaking the door down, he angrily confronted Phil, allowing Johnny to escape. Mitchell fueding ensued with bitter recriminations from Phil about Grant's abandonment of him. Despite being threatened at gunpoint and nearly run over by an irate Phil, Grant managed to survive 'Get Johnny Week', despite ending up begging for his life in the woods with Danny Moon's gun at his head. Danny's brother Jake had shot Danny dead to save Phil and Grant. The brothers later helped Jake by stopping him committing suicide, turning himself in to the police, and beating up Juley Smith.
[edit] Departure to Portugal
Grant sparked up some sexual tension with Jane Collins, Ian Beale's girlfriend, when the two were trying to stop Ian and Phil fighting over custody of Phil's son Ben. Grant and Jane shared a kiss one night outside The Vic, then Grant took it too far and she punched him. Grant then got a job working for Jake at the newly-reopened Scarlet nightclub, which lead to another, more passionate kiss with Jane in the club office.
The next day, Jane had an argument with Ian, and went to Grant. The pair ended up having sex on the desk in the office. They finished the affair when Phil caught Grant and Jane in a clinch. To make Jane jealous, after she ended their affair, Grant turned his attention to newcomer Chelsea Fox. They had a one-night stand but Peggy, Phil, Jane and Chelsea's mum, Denise Fox were utterly disgusted with Grant for sleeping with a 19-year-old. He later admitted to Jane that he still wanted her, but she still rejected him.
Not long after that Courtney then accused Grant of killing Tiffany after her cousin Ben blurted out what he had overheard Kathy saying. Courtney then snubbed Grant's request for a hug, leaving him heartbroken and hitting a low. The next day he left Walford. A week later, Jane found him and after much persuasion he came back and returned to a surprise when he found his wife, Carla waiting in the bar for him.
They got back together in Walford but when Carla's ex, Ray arrived in Walford to retrieve £12,000 that Carla had stolen from him, but Carla and Ray started their affair again after Carla seduced Ray at a hotel. Ray told Carla that he still needed the money. Upon this, Carla told Grant that Ray wanted £25,000, in a bid to run back to Rio with Ray. Grant and Carla planned to start a new life in Portugal together with Courtney and Carla's son Mathias.
Grant learned of Carla's scam with Ray not long after Ray and Carla's affair began again. Eventually Carla told Grant that she wanted to have his baby. Grant wet Carla's appetite with a wad of cash, supposedly to pay off Ray, but the previous day Grant had ordered Ray to leave the Square with nothing.
When Grant was in the shower Carla took the bag of money out onto the Square, but Grant was watching his lying wife through the Vic's bathroom window. Carla then realised that she had been tricked, and as she opened the bag of 'money' she was surprised to discover Grant's pants and socks in the bag and no money.
Upon returning to the Vic, Grant and Carla kissed, but Grant took Carla upon his shoulder and dumped her in Gus Smith's litter bin, much to the amusement of Courtney, Gus and more Albert Square residents.
Ian Beale saw Grant and Courtney leave the Square and alerted Jane of this. Unbeknown to Ian, Jane was sobbing, as she truly loved Grant. From the airport Grant called Jane to tell her that he loved her and that she was a very special woman.
Jane cried while on the phone and she told Grant that she loved him. After this call, Grant and Courtney left together for Portugal, hand-in-hand.
[edit] Children
Grant has a nine-year old daughter, Courtney Mitchell with deceased wife Tiffany Raymond, and a ten-year old son, Mark Fowler Junior, fathered in a one-night stand with Michelle Fowler. Grant has never met his son Mark and isn't even aware that Mark is his son. Courtney returned with Grant in March 2006, played by 10 year old Megan Jossa. Grant was also step-father to Carla's son Mathias.
He would have fathered a child with Sharon, but at around the time that the baby was conceived he discovered Sharon's affair with Phil and Sharon didn't find out that she was pregnant until after she left Walford. The baby was aborted, though nobody in Walford knew about this until Sharon returned six years later; believing that the abortion had left her infertile. This led to the break-up of Sharon's second relationship with Phil.
[edit] Family
- Father: Eric Mitchell (deceased)
- Mother: Peggy Mitchell
- Brother: Phil Mitchell
- Sister: Sam Mitchell
- Wife: Carla Mitchell
- Son: Mark Fowler Jr.
- Daughter: Courtney Mitchell
- Grandfathers: Robert Mitchell (deceased), Jack Martin (deceased)
- Grandmothers: Sandra Mitchell (deceased), Lilly Martin (deceased)
- Uncle: Clive Mitchell
- Aunt: Sal Martin
- Nephew: Ben Mitchell
- Niece: Louise Mitchell
- Second cousin: Billy Mitchell
- Second cousins once removed: Jamie Mitchell (deceased), Petal Mitchell
| Preceded by: Eddie Royle |
Landlord of The Queen Vic 1991 - 1999 |
Succeeded by: Peggy Mitchell |
